Top seed too much for No. 6 Vaqueros
GLENDALE — Its first trip back to the Southern California Regionals in two seasons proved to be a short one for the Glendale Community College men’s tennis team.
The Vaqueros battled up through the last day of the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. While it accomplished that feat, sixth-seeded Glendale knew it would have a tough task ahead competing against top-seeded Cypress.
Glendale found out how difficult the matchup was after its season came to a close with a 5-2 road loss Tuesday afternoon.
The Vaqueros (9-9) received one singles win apiece from Alex Sarkissian and Trevor Campbell. Sarkissian won, 6-4, 6-2, and Campbell swept, 6-4, 6-4. Glendale, which finished second in the Western State Conference behind third-seeded Ventura, didn’t have any answers for the rest of the talented lineup.
Sarkissian, who improved to 20-0 in singles, came back from a 4-1 deficit in his first set. Campbell also rallied from a 4-1 deficit in his first set and is 17-3 in singles.
Cypress (21-2) showed Glendale why it won the Orange Empire Conference championship. The Chargers came back with four singles victories and clinched the win when Oliver Andrzejczuk and Torsten Keil-Long bested Stephan Mamann and Dro Mahmoudi, 6-1, 6-2.
“They are just a real good team,” said Glendale college Coach Bob MacKay, whose team suffered a 6-3 nonconference home loss against Cypress on Feb. 10. “They have just got too much depth in their lineup and that proved to be the key.”
In singles competition, Keil-Long beat Mamann, 6-4, 6-1, and Joakim Nordmar bested Grayson Frazier, 6-0, 6-1. Dhanuk Withana of Cypress defeated Andre Ratavousian, 6-0, 6-2, and Cypress’ Gabriel Dias came through with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Mahmoudi.
“They have a lot of power at the bottom of their lineup,” MacKay said. “We just didn’t have enough pop at the bottom of our lineup.
“We just couldn’t get any points from our Nos. 3-6 singles players. I’m disappointed that we lost, but I’m not disappointed about the season because we had a lot of tough nonconference matches that helped us get here. We had some guys who fought hard.”
While the Vaqueros are done as a team, several players will still compete in the prestigious Ojai Invitational, which will be held April 28-May 1. Sarkissian and Campbell will also take part in the Southern California Regionals in singles and doubles. That will take place May 5-7 in Palm Desert.
“We will now march on individually,” MacKay said.
